Renewable Heat Grants to be Made Available

At the moment, half of the UK’s carbon emissions come from the energy used to generate heat. As a result, a switch to low carbon heating has been deemed vital to meet the UK’s carbon targets.

Subsequently, the Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme has been introduced in order to help homeowners with the cost of installing renewable heat systems. It should provide as many eligible households as possible with grants of up to £1,250.

From 1 August, grants for the following technologies will be available:

solar thermal hot water panels – £300 grant (available to all 26 million British households)

The scheme will be mainly focused at the 5.5 million households in Great Britain not heated by mains gas as these households have to rely on expensive and higher carbon forms of heating such as heating oil and electric fires to keep warm.

To qualify, householders will need to ensure they have basic energy efficiency measures in place before applying from 1 August.

The scheme works on a system of vouchers. If you are successful you will receive a voucher which can be redeemed for a cash repayment as long as the scheme rules and terms and conditions of the voucher have been met. In return for the grant, homeowners will have to agree to fill in a survey on their energy use. In a proportion of homes the government will pay for extra metering to monitor actual energy use.

People who install renewable heating systems under the scheme could also get extra support under the Renewable Heat Incentive from October 2012, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria. Additionally, householders who have installed eligible equipment since 15 July 2009 could also qualify for support from October 2012 from the Renewable Heat Incentive.

The scheme opens for applications on 1 August 2011. You can call the Energy Saving Trust on 0800 512 012.